Lebanese police stated Tuesday they are hunting a mmember of the armed Sunni group Fatah al-Islam who escaped from the country's Rumieh prison. "Two members of Fatah al-Islam attempted a prison break in Rumieh this morning and one succeeded in escaping," a police spokesman was quoted as saying by AFP.

Police managed to capture Syrian inmate Munjid al-Fahham within the prison grounds after he wounded himself trying to escape, the spokesman added. But they were still hunting for the second prisoner, Walid al-Bustani, who was believed to have fled the facility.

Security forces cordoned off the area as helicopters flew above the prison, located some 12 kilometres northeast of Beirut.

Fatah al-Islam is an Al-Qaeda-inspired group. It is accused of being behind twin bus bombings in a Christian suburb northeast of Beirut which left three dead and close to 20 wounded in 2007.